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Competencies of Adn and Bsn

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The Difference in competencies between Nurses prepared at the Associate Degree level

versus the Baccalaureate Degree level.

Frances Frederick-Whiteman Grand Canyon University NRS-430V-0500

January 31, 2016

As one progresses through life, they are given many opportunities to become distinguished among others. This opportunity is given to all, but only few will uptake them, and even fewer are able to see through with the opportunity at hand. This situation in itself can be used to identify the differences in competences between nurses prepared at the associate-degree level versus the baccalaureate degree level. When receiving an education in nursing care, you are taught guideline procedures to handle a situation at hand. However, while practicing nursing care, you may need to deviate from the educational process taught to handle the situation. For example, during your educational process, you may have been taught to handle a fallen patient in a certain manner. However, because of the many complications that the patient may have, you may have to alter the way in which you must handle the patient. Students and educational administrators involved in nursing education are responsible for providing appropriate development and use of nursing knowledge. Nurses can receive either an associate or baccalaureate degree level of education. An Associate degree of Nursing has a duration of 2-3 years for completion. It is provided by community colleges and certain nursing schools. Nursing students with an Associate degree can be license as a Registered Nurse. According to Creasia & Friberg (2011), the Associate degree is deemed successful due to the fact that the Associate Degree Graduates were able to pass NCLEX, and with proof of sufficient level of clinical nursing competence, and they were employed as graduate nurses. A Baccalaureate Degree of Nursing is an academic degree that emphasis the science and principles of nursing. The Bachelors of Nursing has a duration of 4-5 years of completion, which includes general education and core nursing requirement courses, which educates and prepares nurses for experience and enhances professional roles and graduate studies. The competencies of the Associate Degree of Nursing would take two to three years of Nursing education. Nurses are exposed to clinical settings, disease conditions, and beside nursing, with little to no research done. In today’s society, the healthcare system has drastically change. Nurses has high expectation to ensure care to their patients, and with their involvement thorough research is important towards meeting the new standards of the healthcare system. Nurses with associate degrees cannot fully compete with other professionals in the healthcare system due to their level of education without a collegiate degree curriculum. According to Shin, Yoo Jung, Shin, and Soo Kim (2006), ADN nurses performed low compared to BSN nurses. Diploma and ADN was what society needed from nurses to be able to deliver bedside nursing with minimal cost. Nurses with a Baccalaureate Degree are highly exposed to a longer period of education along with thorough knowledge of Nursing. Nurses with a Bachelors Science of Nursing are required more advanced nursing courses on leadership, Nurse management, Humanities and many more. Their approach on topics such as education in community health, psychological, and spiritual aspects of nursing. They can perform effectively as administrative Nurses, as well as present themselves more professionally, among Doctors, Pharmacist etc. They are appropriately trained to conduct research that enhances the quality of care to their patients. According to Kumm, Godfrey, Martin, Tucci, Muenks, and Spaeth (2014), BSN are strong advocates for their patients and their patients. They have knowledgeable workers with strong critical reasoning, clinical judgment, communication, and assessment skills (p. 217). They earn more respect and recognition from both society and healthcare professionals. An example of a patient care situation is a patient who is status post knee replacement and is admitted to a Rehabilitation facility, who takes their pain medicine which is a narcotic, refuses stool softener and rehabilitation therapy and wants to stay in bed all day. In this situation, a Nurse with an associate degree would administer the narcotic, document the refusal of the stool softener, inform the rehabilitation department that the patient is refusing therapy for their schedule appointment. The nurse failed to inform the patient that narcotic may cause constipation and with the aid of stool softener constipation can be prevented. This is because an ADN nurse is trained to provide bedside care due to the level at which they are prepared. In this situation, A BSN nurse who is educated and trained will meet the patients needs considering their environment and health. A BSN nurse would first engage in conversation with the patient along with showing compassion and listening. They would also encourage the patient and involve the patient’s family, as well as meeting their physical and psychological needs. Establishing a trusting nurse-patient relationship. After thoroughly researching the competencies between Nurses prepared at BSN vs. ADN level, many studies have proven Nurses with a Bachelors of Science in Nursing are well-prepared and fit for any placement within healthcare.

Reference
American Association of College of Nursing (AACN) (2014): The Impact of Education on Nursing Practice. Pg. 5-8. Retrieved from http://www.aacn.nche.edu/media-relations/EdImpact.pdf

Creasia J.L & Friberg E.E. (2011). Historical Development of Professional Nursing in the United States: Conceptual Foundation: The Bridge to Professional Nursing Practices. Pg. 4-8

Kumm, S., Godfrey, N., David M., Tucci, M., Muenks, M., & Spaeth, T. (2014). Baccalaureate Outcomes Met by Associate Degree Nursing Programs: Nurse Educator. Volume 39, No. 5. Pg. 216-219

Shin, K., Jung, D.Y., Shin, S., & Kim, M.S. (2006). Critical Thinking Dispositions and Skills of Senior Nursing Students in Associate, Baccalaureate, and RN-to-BSN Programs: Journal of Nursing Education. Volume 45, No. 6. Pg. 233-237
Frances, thank you for submission of your Educational Preparation Essay! Differences in competencies between nurses based on degree level are accurate and supported with detail, while demonstrating deeper understanding by incorporating prior learning. You used a patient care situation to describe differences in approach to nursing care based upon formal educational preparation in nursing that is accurate, supported with detail, demonstrates deeper understanding, and incorporates prior learning.
The thesis is clear and comprehensive. Your writing is largely free of mechanical errors and generally adheres to APA formatting guidelines, and your in-text citations and references are complete and correctly formatted.
The Turnitin report indicates that 26% of your paper matches another paper previously submitted to GCU for NRS 430, with another 2% matching other sources. This exceeds GCU’s limit of 20%. Be sure to review this report and revise your paper as needed to avoid plagiarism prior to submission. Good job overall.

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